Moulton Falls

The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad is putting its Alco diesel train on the rails this weekend, Nov. 11 & 12. The train, pulled by a diesel engine, runs south about seven miles to the Heisson area, through a 330-foot tunnel through solid rock, with a stop at Moulton Station to visit Yacolt Falls. Excursions depart at noon and 2:30 p.m. from the station in Yacolt, located at 207 N. Railroad Ave. Passengers should arrive at least 30 minutes prior to departure. Reservations are recommended as space is limited. (…because seriously, who doesn’t love a train ride?)

Tickets are $20 per person, $19 for seniors, $15 for children five to 12, and $13 for little ones two to four. Babies up to age two are free! To buy your tickets and reserve your spot on this popular and scenic train ride, visit www.bycx.com or call 360-686-3559.

The railroad is offering another delicious option: a ride on the “wine train” from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11, in partnership with Moulton Falls Winery, 30901 N.E. Railroad Ave. in Yacolt. After some yummy appetizers at 1 p.m., followed by wine and cider tasting, 60 lucky passengers will board the 2:30 p.m. diesel train. The train will follow a scenic route through Heisson and on to a bridge across the East Fork of the Lewis River. On the return trip, the train will drop passengers back at the winery for live music from 4 to 9 p.m. featuring Doug and Judy Smith and Tom May. The Moulton Falls kitchen will be open that evening, serving wood-fired pizzas, calzones, quesadillas, sandwiches, and salads.

Tickets for the Wine Train package are available at Moulton Falls Winery during business hours or online at www.tickettomato.com. The price per person is $45—or $40 for veterans—and includes appetizers, wine and cider tasting, the train ride, and live music. This is a super-popular event, so purchasing tickets in advance of the day, while not required, is enthusiastically recommended.

Moulton Falls Winery & Cider House is ramping up the romance with a special reservation-only Valentine’s Dinner on Saturday, Feb. 11. Appetizers will be served at 5:30, followed by a full dinner at 6:30. Savor delicious dishes like stuffed pasta shells, shrimp pasta primavera, fruit and greens salad, and freshly baked focaccia. While you nibble on a decadent dessert, you can enjoy the Grammy Award-winning guitar melodies of Doug Smith and Tom May.

Tickets are $70 per couple and include appetizers, a glass of wine per person, the pasta dinner, dessert and live music. All couples will also be entered in a drawing for a sweet Valentine’s Chocolate Basket! There are still some spots left but this event is proving to be very popular. To reserve your spot at the table, email moultonfallswinery@centurytel.net or call 360-686-4070. Moulton Falls Winery & Cider House is located in scenic Yacolt at 31101 N.E. Railroad Ave.

Enjoy the mellow slide into autumn at Moulton Falls Winery with singer/songwriter Randy Cate from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30. There’s no cover charge, but you’ll definitely want to sample some of Moulton Falls’ wines, housemade hard cider, and locally legendary sangria. The kitchen will be open and serving its full menu of wood-fired pizza and quesadillas, salads, sandwiches, and small plates like cheese platters loaded with smoked cheeses and meats along with crackers, pita and hummus. Nibbles are available all day for wine tastings, and the kitchen opens at 4:30 p.m. to fire up its wood oven.

Cate, a former English teacher at Union High School, has long been active in the music industry, and his tunes have been performed by music greats like Ted Nugent and Dionne Warwick. More recently, Cate’s work can be heard as background music on television shows such as “True Blood,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “The Young and the Restless.” His latest album, “A Different Kind of Same” is available at www.cdbaby.com, on iTunes, at soundcloud.com, and as an MP3 from www.amazon.com. Cate will also have copies of his albums available for purchase at the show.

Moulton Falls Winery is located at 31101 N.E. Railroad Ave. just outside of Yacolt. They offer live music every Friday and Saturday night, a spacious indoor tasting room and seating area, and outside seating when the weather’s nice with beautiful views of the countryside. The tasting room is open from 4 to 9 p.m. on Fridays, noon to 9 p.m. on Saturdays, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. To learn more, visit moultonfallswinery.com.

Sept. 2 may be First Friday in the rest of Clark County, but it’s Phirst Phriday at Moulton Falls Winery, located on the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad just outside of Yacolt. This beautiful tasting room offers wine, cider, and an excellent sangria, as well as an array of food and wood-fired pizza and other goodies. The country/bluegrass band Phoenix Rising will be playing live music from 6 to 9 p.m., but you can come as early as 4 p.m. for wine tasting and to get a good seat for the concert.

Then, on Saturday, Sept. 3, come back for more live music from Full Circle—or on Sept. 4 for even more music with Amelia Autery. The tasting room opens at noon on both days, and music runs from 6 to 9 p.m. The kitchen will be open, offering a special wood-fired Harvest Pizza for $13 with meat and vegetable marinara sauce, topped with fresh zucchini, Parmesan and Mozzarella.

You’ll also want to try to the handmade, wood oven quesadillas, with chicken or beef, a mix of cheeses, olives, green onions and pickled peppers, served with sour cream and salsa. If you’re in a sandwich kind of mood, try the Moulton Falls Melt: deli roast beef covered with melted Cheddar and sautéed vegetables on house-baked focaccia with au jus for dipping. Moulton Falls also offers a variety of salads, desserts, and appetizers, all just right for enjoying with wine on a late-summer evening.

For more information about Moulton Falls Winery, including hours and directions, visit moultonfallswinery.com.

It’s pretty much the ideal day: hiking along some of Clark County’s most beautiful and lushly scenic byways, with stops along the way for wine tasting. That, in a nutshell, is Walk n’ Wine: a summer hiking series where you can follow the North Clark County Wine Trail and taste first-hand the delicious wines produced by Pomeroy Cellars, Dolio Winery, and Moulton Falls Winery.

The first Walk n’ Wine is at Moulton Falls Winery on Saturday, May 21. Participants will meet at the winery and then hike to Moulton Falls Park, following a relatively easy trail that will give hikers gorgeous views of the iconic Moulton Falls Bridge. Walk three miles to earn a small logo glass, four miles for a complimentary tasting, five miles for a large logo glass, and if you climb Bell’s Mountain to the one-mile mark, you’ll earn a mini-growler. Hikers will be given maps, and volunteers will be stationed along the trail to award tokens for mileage achievements. Walkers will return to the winery for live music, pizza and salmon burgers. (…and here’s something else to note: Moulton Falls Winery offers live music every weekend through the summer, as well as special wine-and-food rides on the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad, with a train stop just outside the winery.)

Then, on Saturday, June 18, Walk n’ Winers will meet at Pomeroy Cellars and walk to Lucia Falls Park, choosing a one-mile, three-mile or five-mile looping route through the woods and beside the roaring falls. Finally, on Saturday, July 23, wine-lovers will embark on a three-mile exploration Lewisville Park—Clark County’s oldest park—with guides from Dolio Winery.

Kids are welcome to walk with their parents as long as they’re old enough to navigate the woodsy trails, and some of the routes are also stroller-friendly. All Walk n’ Wine events begin between 10 and 10:30 a.m. Sign up in person at each of the participating wineries on the morning of the hike. Registration is $15 per hike plus a donation of canned food, and proceeds benefit the North Clark County Food Bank and North County Emergency Medical Services. All participants will receive small souvenirs for each of the hikes they complete, with additional prizes for those who complete longer routes. For more details, visit www.facebook.com/NorthClarkCountyWineTrail.